


Light the Way

by shampoo153



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Canon Compliant, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-18
Updated: 2019-04-18
Packaged: 2020-01-16 02:36:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18512164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shampoo153/pseuds/shampoo153
Summary: A moment between an assassination attempt and an important holiday.





	Light the Way

The Fire Lord writhed on his bed. The only sounds in the room his growls and choked off grunts of agony. The Lady Mai, his betrothed, watched from her place at his bedside, occasionally getting him to drink medicinal tea when she thought he would not choke on it.

Zuko growled, a compromise to his refusal to scream.

“Really,” Mai said, “if you would give yourself a few moments to _breathe_ , then maybe burning out the venom wouldn’t hurt so much.”

Zuko growled, old aimless fury rising to the surface to every setback.

“It’s really not so bad, this time,” Mai commented, “you must be building up a tolerance. It gives the rest of us time to investigate. Really, it’s almost embarrassing how easy some of the staff are to intimidate.” She signed.

Zuko’s pain seemed to ebb as he gasped for breath beside her. She gave him the last of the tea and watched him go limp. A coded knock on the door interrupted her musing and she pulled a blanket over the weakened Fire Lord, “declare yourself.”

“My Lady, it’s Ran, Captain of the Guard.”

Mai opened the door and glared at the captain, “well, have the conspirators been caught?” Her eyes narrowed when the captain hesitated, “I take it _not_.”

“No, my lady, we were unable to capture any of the assassins alive, there were two fatalities in the investigation: one was killed by fire blast when the Fire Lord was hit and the other committed suicide when cornered.” The captain bowed, “we are running a full sweep of the palace and all servants are being questioned. The Fire Lord?”

“Resting.” Mai folded her hands in her sleeves, face blank, “he’ll want a full report of your _incompetence_ when he awakens, which will be _soon_. Healer Kamichi has provided aid in burning out the venom and my assistant will keep you appraised of his condition.”

“Understood, my lady,” the captain dipped her head a final time before leaving.

Mai reclaimed her chair and sighed when she picked up her own cup of tea, “cold, again. Really, Zuko, I thought one of the benefits to having a firebender for a future husband was never having to touch cold tea again.”

Zuko murmured, “could I… corner bison in paid?”

“No, those are Earth Kingdom rules. Besides, you’re forgetting that I had the lily tile routing your south board.” Zuko muttered intelligibly as he tried to push himself up. Mai gathered some pillowed and helped him rest against the headboard. “Get Healer Kamichi,” she instructed her maid.

“Is everyone … ?”

Mai rolled her eyes, “everyone is _fine_ , besides the assassins. You were their only target and the Guard had no casualties… _yet_. We’re still waiting for the report from the captain.”

“Good,” he murmured. Mai glared at her cup of tea, “is there something wrong?”

“This is the third attempt on your life that she has failed to prevent. _This_ time it was a venomous dart, _last_ time it was poison … it seems that you’ve almost died quite a few times under _her watch_.”

“Or,” Zuko asserted, “there’s a lot of people trying to kill me and only these few have gotten through. Almost half of my people want me dead.”

Mai rolled her eyes.

“Healer Kamichi, my lady, your Majesty,” Mai’s maid announced.

The healer wasted no time to inspect Zuko. “Hold still, you Majesty,” she insisted when Zuko tried to get up, “venom and poison in one month doesn’t just hit your body, it could corrupt the spirit.” A soft blossom of fire followed her hands as she checked his chi paths.

“I need to –“

“ _Which_ could poison the mind,” she chastised. Zuko grunted when she finished her examination, “While you are incredibly resilient, Majesty, it is as I thought. You will need rest and I will work with you every hour today and tomorrow.” Zuko started to protest, “ _and then_ I will see if you are fit to look over your affairs.”

When the healer departed, Zuko tried to get up again, but Mai pushed him back down, “the Fire Lantern Festival is soon,” he pleaded, “I can’t miss it.”

“I know, but while it’s _boring_ to sit around and wait for you to get better, the civil war you death would start _isn’t_ my idea of fun.” Mai sent for her assistant.

As they went over the details of Capital City’s preparations, one of the guards announced a visitor. When the door opened, Ty Lee cartwheeled in.

“Mai!” she cheered as she hugged her.

“Ty Lee,” Mai greeted, eye wide, “I thought you were with the Kiyoshi warriors.”

“Yeah,” Ty Lee bowed to Zuko, who again tried to get up. Mai pushed him back down with a muttered reprimand. “But they all dressed and fought the same! Do you know what that does to an aura? I almost had no more pink left! Hello, Fire Lord Zuko!”

“Hello, Ty Lee. What are you doing here?”

“Well… I wanted to see my sisters and then I heard what happened …” her smile faded, “are you okay?”

“I’m _fine_ ,” he grumbled. Mai sighed as she pushed him down again and stepped aside with Ty Lee.

“Is he?” Ty Lee asked.

“Not as fine as he’d want you to believe,” Mai frowned, “this was the second attempt this _month_. The healer says he can’t do anything until the day after tomorrow, at the earliest.”

Ty Lee bit her lip, “but he’s okay?”

“He survived.”

Ty Lee shook her head and approached Zuko, ”so, what’s going on?”

Zuko glared at the teapot, “I can’t miss the Fire Lantern Festival, it would make me look weak.”

The assistant frowned at her clipboard, “if I may, you Majesty… it would need to be a display of power – to subvert … _talk_. Traditionally, the Fire Lord would make an appearance to light the lanterns, but then exit with the Fire Sages for purifications…”

“Oh!” Ty Lee clapped her hands, “I know! The Fire Sages can do their ceremonies right in front of the palace! Then Zuko can sit on a big throne and look regal while being pampered by all the servants! Mai can look scary beside him and throw knives at anyone who _looks_ at Zuko the wrong way!”

“It can be arranged,” the assistant nodded, “we could also shuffle the sages so that the Majesty’s supporters are the most visible during their cleansings. Will we be expecting Prince Iroh?”

Mai glanced at Zuko, but he avoided her gaze, “no, he’s staying in Ba Sing Se.”

The assistant nodded, “if there’s anything else, your Majesty?”

“No, that should be enough.” She nodded and bowed out of the room.

Ty Lee frowned, “oh, your uncle’s not coming? Maybe he didn’t hear-“

“ _You_ heard,” Mai shook her head.

Zuko’s jaw clenched before he muttered, “it doesn’t matter. I’ll tell the healer that we need to focus on making sure I can light the lanterns without embarrassing myself.”

“You know what? Anyone even _snickers_ and I’ll poke ‘em one _hard_.” Ty Lee raised her fists. When Zuko snorted, Mai didn’t hide her smile.


End file.
